Dinghy Group

Updated for 19/12/9 see below

Sunday 13/12/9

Sunday started the arrivals of the Tassie sailors in drips and drabs. The majority of boats ex Sail Sydney had arrived on Weds courtesy of the bionic VW Golf and another group of boats arrived on the Spirit today including two lasers and Matt Bugg's 2.4.

Of the sailors that had spent a few days of well earned rest in Hobart post their efforts in Sydney, the 1st group of sailors came in on the 0600 flight from Hobart but were one short thanks to Cuz sleeping in (on his sun bed going by the (sailors) tan he is sporting). He eventually turned up mid morning, as did Rohan "little tank" Langford and Ben "Cougar" Price, and like the rest of the team, set about unloading the trailer and rigging / their boats. This included a polishing session that Soph "Turtle no blocks" Chesterman took up with great enthusiasm much to her Dad's amazement (he even rang me to check).

Buggy was the first Tasmanian on the water with Turtle and Oisin Stimson the first off the beach representatives onto the water to shake their cobwebs out.  Tiredness combined with the marginal weather early on, put off the rest of the laser fleet but they were joined however by the 470 of Little Tank and Cougar
and the 420's of Amelia Catt / Lucy Shepherd and Doug Shepherd / Pat Hutton under the guidance of TSA coach Richard "insert one of many nicknames" Scarr.

Scary was in fact an afternoon arrival with excess baggage in terms of Hugh Jones. Jonesy was lying in bed at 0900 when his dad and Scary met at the RYCT and Scary suggested that Hugh should give it ago in Melbourne. Tim laughed and said if you can arrange it...... 5 mins later Scary had Zac Pet's parents
bringing his boat over on tonights Spirit and him booked on the 1pm flight!!!! That will teach Tim to set Scary a challenge.

The lack of boat meant that Hugh had little to do today apart from lose his show bag (yes already) but that apparently puts him in good company with Angus "Kit Bag" Barton and George "Almost Everything" Jones who left more than they planned in Sydney.

A carbo loading pasta night followed by an early night leads to tomorrow when the sailing starts in all seriousness, with a 1000 briefing and racing starting at 1300 for the 4.7's and shortly after for the other classes. The brand new club house facilities at Sandringham are very impressive and a perfect viewing
point for the racing - something I look forward to.

Comments have already been made about the size of the Tasmanian delegation here and with a large fleet of 350+ sailors, it will be a good challenge for them and fantastic experience ahead of the various Nationals. Regular updates will be posted each day and don't forget to check out the Sail Melbourne website for news and images.

 Monday 14/12/9

An early start for all as the race briefing was held at 1000. The renowned Wilson brothers who are officiating the regatta advised the assemble atheletes from 26 countries of the finer details of the week and, as they usually do, invited interaction with the sailors if they had any concerns.

Scary then gave his team talk, discussed wind and approach to the week before sending the sailors off to prepare their boat. George "I sail with new foils and sails each regatta" Jones had the most work renumbering his new gear but as usual looked the calmest. At midday the sailors started launching with the 4.7's and Matt Bugg in his 2.4 heading off for their 1300 start. The 2.4's have 11 competing this week and if they can get most of these guys over to Hobart for the Nationals this season,the fleet will be a terrific size as, according to Ron Bugg (Matt's dad), the 7th 2.4 has just been purchased in Hobart so they are certainly a developing class.

PM Update

In a decent breeze and a large sea, the sailing was exciting. In the 4.7's, the Tassie sailors had a 'challenging day' with Zac Petterd the leading Tasmanian in 10th with Oisin, Lewis, Hugh and Emma. It is fair to say the 4.7 sailors came off the water very dissapointed with their personal performances but the field is closer than the results suggest so with a new day tomorrow, determination to improve and carbo loading complete tonight, I imagine the climb up the results table will begin. In the Radials, Elliott Noye is lying 3rd= overall after a 3rd and 4th with George Jones nipping at his heels in 5th after a 3rd and 6th.

In the two handed classes, Rohan and Ben endured two 1hr plus races in their 470 which meant a big bowl f pasta and a giant pizza were required post race. Meanwhile in the 420's, Lucy and Amelia sailed strongly and were only held back by an OCS from a positive start whilst Pat and Doug are placed 5th, although they were very frustrated as this could have been higher as they were 3rd in the 2nd race before capsizing.

Matt Bugg and the 2.4 fleet were a sight to behold in these conditions, particularly downwind with Matt coming 7th and 8th finishing 7th overall. He celebrated by joining his fellow 2.4 sailors in a restaurant in St. Kilda for a quiet dinner only to choose the same place as the rest of the Tasmanian team - must be a Tassie thing!

After todays hard efforts, I imagine the sailors are already asleep as I type this - more news tomorrow!

15/12/9

Forget the National, International and Olympian sailors here this week, the one appearance Lewis was interested in today was this little beauty spotted by a local fisherman in Port Phillip Bay as reported in todays local paper.  I guess this really is a training regatta for our Laser and 420 sailors in readiness for Adelaide!

Different people prepare themselves differently - some carbo load, some ring Scary late evening for advice, some drink OJ that has been in Scary's car since SIRS and others just chill, but one thing that is fairly common amongst sailors is the nightly dry.  As can be seen from the photo, this is no different in St. Kilda where 9 of the team are staying and it is certainly turning a few heads of the other inmates - sorry I mean guests. Incidentally, on the 1st night a passing police car's sirens awoke Little Tanks from his sleep and for some reason he jumped out of bed and ran out of the apaartment (on the 2nd floor and in a gated property) and brought his sailing gear in - I guess it was in case they were chasing the infamous wet sailing gear thief of St. Kilda! 

Light winds and 29 degrees welcomed the sailors today as did the normal zillion flies.  The 4.7 sailors struggled again but there were improvements with most with top 10 finishes for Shark Bait Lewis (5th), Oisin (8th) and Hugh (8th).  Emma, who at 13 is probably the youngest 4.7 sailor in the fleet, also improved on yesterdays results which is good to see and although the results table looks respresentative of a map of Australia (with all of Tassie at the bottom!), it doesn't reflect the closeness of the fleet as the gap between 1st and last is not massive.  With a strong northerly predicted for tomorrow, as well as 40 deg, it won't take much of a change in the sailing to change the results of the races.

The term struggling cannot be used In the 2.4 as Matt Bugg was on fire today with a 2nd and a 3rd.  Matt was particularly pleased with the 3rd place as it came from starting virtually stone last across the line so was a very hard fought 3rd and climbs him to 5th overall after 4 races.

In the Radials, the commuting pair of Elliott Noye and George Jones are sitting 2nd and 4th respectively after Elliott secured a great 2nd and 4th today and George a pair of 8's. Zac Pullen is lying 13th out of this fleet of 35 prefering the lighter conditions today and Nathan (hero as I fixed Oisin's sail last night only for him to nearly forget it this morning) Macmillan is lying 30th.

Little Tanks and Cougar OJ Price secured an 11th in the 1st race today, their best of the regatta so far, followed by a 15th and Lucy and Amelia followed their disappointment of the OCS yesterday with a blazing 2nd and 3rd today so should be all smiles tonight and looking forward to the 13th (OCS) dropping out improving on their current 5th place, just two spots ahead of brother Doug and Pat Hutton who sailed an 11th and 8th today after making quick changes to their broken centreboard overnight. 

Sunscreen and hiking pads are the order of the day tomorrow if all goes as forecast - updates will be posted tomorrow following completion of racing with, hopefully, some news of our glamour girls........

16/12/9

The day started with a big surprise for Hugh Jones who made the mistake of complaining about the sandwiches Scary had been making piles of religiously each day for all of his little darlings.  Hugh was then tasked with taking on this role and made them for all - even the wad for Ben to keep him from starvation!  That will teach him (maybe!). 

As predicted, the temperature was tuned up a few degrees and the early starters were met with mid 30's and strong winds, with the temperature increasing further as the afternoon continued.  The 4.7's were out for a 1200 start as per usual and Oisin is starting a mini breakaway from the Tassie pack with two top 10 finishes today for his best day of the series.  This has put a gap of a one interstate sailor between him and the always competitive Lewis who had a mixed day today - it should be an interesting battle for top 4.7 Tasmanian going by the banter being bounced between sailors.  Scary threatened Lewis with 100 push ups if he wasn't around the top mark in 3rd today (after a 1st rounding yesterday) - Lewis was on push up 57 when I left to return home (or at least that is what I he will tell Scary).

Matt Bugg had an 8th and 9th today in the heavy weather and is probably cursing me.  I took this photo and he told me that he doesn't normally do photo shoots so no doubt will blame me for stealing all his luck.  Incidentally the leader of the 2.4's is from the ACT and with a couple of 1st's today, being land locked is clearly not a problem.  I have been impressed with the general comardirie around the boat park, remember a lot of these sailors have sailed with each other in cadets, sabots, opti's, etc., but you have to see the atmosphere around the 2.4's to believe it.  I have noted this in Hobart before but even here, it is like a group of old friends chatting away, joking, assisting and congratulating each other.

The heat has been turned up on the course as mentioned above, but not like the heat that George Jones has applied to the leaders of the radials today with his two bullets.  I asked Elliott if he was stirring George this week and although George thought he should, Elliott was more cautious and it is clear why today.  It will be a great battle between these two good mates to see who comes out on top and to see how much pressure they can put on the leader, Singapores Seng Leong Koh who is leading by 10 and 11 points from Elliott and George respectively. Zac Pullen was very concerned with the wind today but he certainly tamed it in race 1 today with an 8th place, his best of the week (so far!).

Little Tanks and Cougar Price continue to press in the 470 and are very competitive up wind so are working on their down wind sailing in readiness for Sorento.  Lucy and Amelie were enjoying the sun this morning in the boat park and went out to score a 5th and 2nd - with the drop as predicted, they are now sitting joint 3rd and improving by the day. Doug and Pat scored an 8th and 10th to cement their 8th place to date. 

Emma and Sophie started the day with a little disappointment - they were taken away two days ago for a photo shoot modelling Sail Melbourne shirts for the Herald Sun.  Unfortunately they were gazumped by a Channel 10 personality who is here so missed out on their moment of fame - well this moment anyway as I am sure there will be others knowing these two.

I head back south tonight to do that other thing I do from time to time, i.e work and I am looking forward to the rest bite from the flies, but with the temperature forecast to drop tomorrow and the wind to continue to blow fresh, the racing will be exciting and favour the 'bigger' sailors - but then again, it wouldn't be the 1st time I got it wrong if......

17/12/9

Yes - I got it wrong.

Today had a stop-start feel with the weather having a major influence on proceedings.  The 4.7's and 2.4's headed out in a 20 knot breeze which provided the exciting sailing promised, but as the morning wore on a storm front moved across the bay, initially dropping the breeze before the boats were sent to shore and racing postponed. With lightning in the area, no wind and big waves - a lot of the sailors were relieved with the RO decision including Oisin who wanted to put the one race they did behind him - having fallen out of the boat!  Lewis claimed 9th and Hugh 10th with the rest of the Tassie guys coming in behind.  Of course when I spoke to Oisin, his colleagues were understandably offering their sympathy to him in the background!!!

The only other Tassie rep. sailing today was Matt Bugg who came 5th in the one 2.4 race that was held having him 6th overall, 1 point behind NSW's Ken Williams.

The afternoon fleets did head out to the course to try and get some racing in amongst the shifting breeze and driving rain (after today in Tassie, I don't think they know what driving rain really is!) but to no avail. Tomorrow is another day as they say.

To make up for the lack of news today, have a look at the Sail Melbourne website where, on the home page, there is a neat video clip from Wednesdays action including one of our own at 0m 57sec.

We are into the final two days of action - the business end of the regatta, so hopefully better conditions and therefore more news tomorrow.

18/12/9

No matter how good your coffee was presented or tasted in the morning, today was a day to forget and was therefore summed up beautifully by Richard "one cylinder" Scarr as a "Chuck Raffle".  With light winds of 6 kts, the 4.7's and 2.4's managed to start their race nearly an hour after the scheduled midday start.  The 4.7's only had a single race and were headed by Lewis in 9th with a great effort from Emma 'sunburn' Barton with a 13th (to match her age).  In the 2.4's, where 2 races were possible, Matt Bugg had a stunning day with a 2nd and 3rd leaving him 5th overall with a single scheduled race to go.

Little Tank and Cougar had a frustrating day with their single race starting at 1730, 2.5 hours late, with the 420's managing two races including one at 7pm!!  Both Tasmanian 420 crews had two different races with Lucy and Amelia getting a 2nd followed by a 10th and Doug and Pat following a 7th with a 4th.  With one race scheduled left, the ladies are lying 4th with the boys 8th overall.

The radial boys had a single and also frustrating race with Zac securing 13th, George 14th, Angus 17th, Elliott 19th and Cuz 25th.  George is lying 3rd overall with one race to go.

To add to the chuck raffle feeling, Scary not only had to endure over 10 hours on the water for pretty much one race, his engine is not even firing on several cylinders - it is down to one!  To cap the day off just perfectly, Scary has had to order a replacement engine for his boat.  At least he will be able to rely on the quality of the pasta at Leo's in St. Kilda tonight (again!) and will be firing on all cylinders tomorrow for the final race of the series. Followed by the big marine pack up (lots of trailers, one pick up boat, lots of boats, onto several cars), the housing move out (good luck with those teenagers sharing) and then car shuffle to the airport on Sunday morning.  I think bringing the troops home from Afghanistan would be easier to arrange for Scary than herding these cats!

19/12/9

After a long week, the final day arrived and with it some excitement.  In the 4.7's, Lewis experienced his first black flag making it a short day for him, but still maintained his position as the top Tasmanian in the 4.7 fleet.  The Tassie 4.7's 'supported' the other sailors in the results table and have been banished to a "cone of silence" by Scary until the Nationals.

Matt Bugg finished his excellent week in the 2.4's and secured his 4th spot making him the 3rd best Australian of the series.  This puts him in an excellent position for the 2.4 Nationals to be held in Hobart in 2010.

In the radials, George was leading the final race and decided that he would do a 'Thorpie' and went for a swim dropping him back to 7th, however it didnt affect the overall result and he secured 3rd spot overall and making him the top Australian.  He was so pleased with this that he headed straight to the refreshments and missed the prize giving!!!  Elliott finished 8th overall with Zac "Black Flag" Pullen coming 14th, Angus 16th and Cuz 29th.

In the 470's, Little Tanks and Cougar finished 16th and now head to Sorento in readiness for their Nationals in the new year, whilst Pat Hutton and Doug Shepherd finished 7th in the 420 with a great 2nd place in the last race.  The 420 Tasmanian glory has to go to Lucy Shepherd and Amelia Catt who secured a 4th in race 9 to cement their 4th spot overall, making them the 2nd females of the series and, more importantly, saving Scary a fortune as he promised them his SLAM TSA shirts if they secured a podium finish - that was close Scary!

With all of the boats loaded and most of the sailors back in Tassie, this completes Sail Melbourne for 2009.  Another successful regatta for some, not so successful for others, but a great regatta in terms of experience for all that competed - experience you just can't get whilst training on the Derwent nor taking part in club races. The benefit of this event to these atheletes will be obvious in the future, at the Nationals and at other major events - apart from anything else, they also had fun!

Well done to all those that took part, and thanks to their "sponsors" (i.e. parents!) who made it possible. Acknowledgement should also go to the TSA, and in particular Richard Scarr, who supported this event on behalf of the Tassie team and made a lot of the arrangements in order to allow it to happen.  Bar two 420's and a 4.7, the entire TSA team where at Sail Melbourne - compare that with previous years attendance and it is clear that something good is happening here in Tasmania in the motivation and development within our chosen sport.  Having been lucky enough to spend a few days of this regatta close up to Scary (but not in the biblical sense), it is terrific to see how he interacts with the young sailors, firing them up as well as looking after them - all whilst coaching and mentoring them - the connection between the two is obvious to me!

I hope that you have enjoyed this 'sort of blog', until next time....      

- Stef